Permeability and mechanical properties of binary and ternary cementitious mixtures

Abstract

Today, pozzolans are widely used in construction for various reasons such as technical and economic efficiency. In this research, in order to evaluate some of important properties of concrete, silica fume and fly ash have been used as a replacement for cement in different mass percentages. Concrete mixtures were made from a water-cement ratio of (0.45) and cured under similar conditions. The main focus of this study was to evaluate the permeability and mechanical properties of concrete made from binary and ternary cementitious mixtures of fly ash and silica fume. In this study permeability of concrete was studied by evaluating the sorptivity, water absorption, water penetration depth, electrical resistivity and rapid chloride permeability (RCP) tests. Mechanical properties of concrete were evaluated with compressive strength, splitting tensile strength and modulus of elasticity. Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) was used to characterize the effects of silica fume and fly ash on the pore structure and morphology of concrete with cement based matrix. The results indicated that the incorporation of silica fume and fly ash increased the mechanical strength and improved the permeability of concrete.